Rockaway Beach gets a new diner

The restaurant, which is across the street from the A-train station, is heavy on nostalgia. Life-sized figures of Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Betty Boop greet patrons. The sound system plays an endless string of early rock 'n' roll and doo-wop classics.

Then there's the ice cream. The diner offers 21 different toppings and serves classic milkshakes, floats and malts.

"You step into a different world when you come in here," said manager Zulfet Ceman. "The community needs a place like this."

The diner is open 7 a.m. to midnight on weekdays and closes an hour later on weekends. Down for the day beachgoers have been piling into the diner on weekends.

"It seems like a lot of diners are disappearing and becoming drugstores or banks," said Melendez. "We should have a nice strip of commercial stores. We hope we'll encourage other businesses to come."

8 comments:

I actually ate there a couple of weekends ago. The burger was not half bad; they actually prepared it rare, like I ordered it, and not medium, like a lot of places do now. The life size Elvi were a little scary, but, all in all, a good place for a quick bite.

Chewing out a rhythm on my bubble gumThe sun is out and I want someIt's not hard, not far to reachWe can hitch a ride To Rockaway BeachUp on the roof, out on the streetDown in the playground the hot concreteBusride is too slowThey blast out the disco on the radioRock Rock Rockaway BeachRock Rock Rockaway BeachWe can hitch a rideTo Rockaway BeachIt's not hard, not far to reachWe can hitch a rideTo Rockaway Beach

as a resident who was anticipating the opening of this diner its unfortunate that the new owners spent a fortune redoing the place since the food is at best inedible. (and overpriced for what you get) service is terrible, which is why the place was empty on a sat. night in August. Hopefully they will replace the chef (if there even is one) microwaved eggs at dunkin donuts next door are better.

I was one of the managers during the opening week of this restaurant. I agreed to work 6 days/60 hours per week and instead worked 103 hours over a 7 day period (including a 33 hour shift... with no break).

I was then fired for a cop out reason, and they have so far refused to pay me what they owe.

All of the employees are being paid off the books and forced to work slave shifts. On the 5th day they fired all the busboys from the Rockaway area and replaced them with a family of illegal immigrants.

Disgusting checklist: No employee bathroom, ice cream scoopers stored in 8 hour old still water, tables cleaned with dirty rags and no sanitizer, icecream on the refridgerator floor, expediter that grabs food with his hands, no handwash sink in kitchen, and no employee bathroom. Just to name a few.

As far as the food goes, I never had a burger I didn't like, until I went here. All the products are cheap Sysco garbage and are stored/cooked improperly. When things are slow, the food comes out fine, but the slightest volume and everything comes out atrocious or an hour later (if at all).

The owner seriously has to be the cheapest SOB on the planet. He isn't a restaurant guy, he's a real estate agent who doesn't give a damn about the community. His wife will even argue with customers if they dare say something bad about the establishment.

I haven't been there in the last month, but from what I've heard from my former co-workers, not much has changed. Avoid this place like the plague until the owner sells.

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